Traffic Tickets Details

Why You Need a Ticket Attorney

There are many reasons to hire an attorney if you receive a traffic citation. Unfortunately, most people don’t. In fact, only about 5% of people who receive traffic citations hire lawyers for assistance. Of the 95% who don’t hire lawyers, the overwhelming majority simply pay their ticket. Although it seems like the easiest thing to do, simply paying a ticket can have disastrous results; Paying the ticket means that you are pleading guilty, and are therefore, convicted. That can cost several hundred or even thousands of dollars in fines, increased insurance rates and Texas Department of Public Safety surcharges.

The United States Constitution guarantees that all citizens shall not be convicted of any criminal charge without due process. The problem is that you can waive your due process rights. That’s exactly what everyone does when they simply pay a traffic ticket. The United States Constitution guarantees due process and the State of Texas has enacted numerous procedural rules and laws to provide just that. In other words, you don’t have to just accept a criminal charge such as a traffic ticket. You can fight it. But, you need to know how to do so. Some people try to handle their own traffic tickets, believing that they know how to do it or because a friend told them what to do. The problem is that most of them don’t know the law, and therefore, don’t even know how to proceed or whether they got a good result or not. So, they handled their own case, but, at what cost?

During the past 25 years of my law practice, I’ve received numerous phone calls from people who need help because of the problems they caused themselves by entering a plea on a traffic ticket without the assistance of an attorney. Unfortunately, at that point, in most cases, nothing can be done. Warrants, surcharges, increased auto insurance rates, high fines and driver's license suspensions are just of few of the potential pitfalls of handling your own traffic citations. What you don’t know can hurt you!

You only have a few days from the date you receive a traffic citation to take action. You must either pay it or plead not guilty and start the process toward a trial or a plea agreement. If you don’t do either, a warrant for your arrest will be issued. If that happens, what do you do next?

If you are able to plead not guilty, what do you do next? What are the procedural rules? What statute is the State of Texas claiming that you violated? What legal defenses are available? Do you have to accept a plea offer from the prosecutor? What happens if you don’t? What happens if you do? If you set your case for trial, what do you do at trial?

The good news is that you don’t have to worry about any of that if you have legal representation. We’ve represented thousands of traffic ticket defendants throughout Texas. Our goal is to get your citation dismissed. Retain us as your attorneys and your worries are over. We take care of everything from beginning to end. You don’t have to spend time going to court or trying to figure out how to do it. We’ll immediately post a bond to lift any warrant for your arrest, enter a plea of not guilty and schedule your case for a pretrial hearing. After determining the specific statutes at play, we’ll develop any and all possible defenses and will meet with the prosecutor to advocate on your behalf. If a complete dismissal is possible, we’ll get it. If not, we’ll negotiate the best plea agreement possible, focusing on avoiding a conviction and paying the lowest fine possible.

Save your time, money and frustration. Let a qualified professional protect your driving record, insurance rates, and the status of your driver license. Don’t try to handle your own case! Call the lawyers with the Law Office of Todd E. Tkach now to talk with one of our courteous staff members, who can explain the traffic ticket citation process, answer any questions you may have, and ultimately resolve your traffic ticket case.